| | Maududi rendition of Surah The Pen(al-Qalam)
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| 68:1 | | Nun. By the pen and what the scribes write |
| 68:2 | | By your Lord´s Grace, you are not afflicted with madness |
| 68:3 | | and surely yours shall be a never-ending reward |
| 68:4 | | and you are certainly on the most exalted standard of moral excellence |
| 68:5 | | So you will soon see, and they too will see |
| 68:6 | | which of you is afflicted with madness |
| 68:7 | | Surely your Lord knows well those who have strayed from His Way just as He knows well those who are on the Right Way |
| 68:8 | | Do not, then, yield to those who reject the Truth, decrying it as false |
| 68:9 | | they would wish you to be pliant so that they too may be pliant |
| 68:10 | | And do not yield to any contemptible swearer |
| 68:11 | | the fault-finder who goes around slandering |
| 68:12 | | the hinderer of good, the transgressor, the sinful |
| 68:13 | | the coarse-grained, and above all mean and ignoble |
| 68:14 | | (who so acts) simply because he has wealth and sons |
| 68:15 | | and whenever Our verses are rehearsed to him, he says: "These are fairy- tales of times gone by." |
| 68:16 | | Soon shall We brand him on his snout |
| 68:17 | | We have put them [i.e., the Makkans] to test even as We put to test the owners of the orchard when they vowed that they would gather the fruit of their orchard in the morning |
| 68:18 | | without making any allowance (for the will of Allah) |
| 68:19 | | Thereupon a calamity from your Lord passed over it while they were asleep |
| 68:20 | | and so by morning the orchard lay as though it had been fully harvested |
| 68:21 | | At daybreak they called out to one another |
| 68:22 | | "Hurry to your orchard if you would gather its fruit." |
| 68:23 | | So off they went, whispering to one another |
| 68:24 | | "No destitute person shall enter it today." |
| 68:25 | | They went forth early, believing that they had the power (to gather the fruit) |
| 68:26 | | But as soon as they beheld the orchard, (they cried out): "We have certainly lost the way |
| 68:27 | | rather, we are utterly ruined." |
| 68:28 | | The best among them said: "Did I not say to you: why do you not give glory to (your Lord)?" |
| 68:29 | | They cried out: "Glory be to our Lord! Certainly we were sinners." |
| 68:30 | | Then they began to reproach one another |
| 68:31 | | They said: "Woe to us! We had indeed transgressed |
| 68:32 | | Maybe our Lord will give us a better orchard in its place; to our Lord do we penitently turn." |
| 68:33 | | Such is the chastisement; and the chastisement of the Hereafter is assuredly even greater, if only they knew |
| 68:34 | | Surely the God-fearing shall have Gardens of bliss with their Lord |
| 68:35 | | What! Shall We treat those who have submitted (to Our command) like those who have acted as criminals |
| 68:36 | | What is the matter with you? How ill do you judge |
| 68:37 | | Or do you have a Book wherein you rea |
| 68:38 | | that (in the Hereafter) you shall have all that you choose for yourselves |
| 68:39 | | Or have We sworn a covenant with you which We are bound to keep till the Day of Resurrection, (a covenant requiring that whatever you ordain for yourselves shall be yours) |
| 68:40 | | Ask them: "Which of them can guarantee that |
| 68:41 | | Or has something been guaranteed by any of those whom they associate with Allah in His Divinity?" If so, let them bring forth their associates, if they are truthful |
| 68:42 | | On the Day when the dreadful calamity will unfold, when people will be summoned to prostrate themselves, and yet they will not be able to prostrate |
| 68:43 | | Their eyes shall be downcast and ignominy shall overwhelm them. For when they were safe and sound, they were summoned to prostrate themselves, (and they refused) |
| 68:44 | | So leave Me, (O Prophet), to deal with him who gives the lie to this Discourse. We shall draw them little by little (to their undoing) in a way that they will not know |
| 68:45 | | I am giving them a respite. Great is My scheme |
| 68:46 | | Or are you asking them for some compensation so that they feel burdened with debt |
| 68:47 | | Or do they have any knowledge of the Unseen which they are now writing down |
| 68:48 | | So bear with patience until the Judgement of your Lord comes, and do not belike the man in the fish (i.e., Jonah) who called out, choking with grief |
| 68:49 | | had his Lord not bestowed His favour upon him, he would have been cast upon that barren shore (and would have remained there) in disgrace |
| 68:50 | | But his Lord exalted him, and included him among His righteous servants |
| 68:51 | | When the unbelievers hear this Exhortation, they look at you as though they would knock you off your feet with their (hostile) glances. They say: "Surely he is afflicted with madness" |
| 68:52 | | although this is nothing but an Exhortation (to goodness) for everyone in the world |
